


Tennessee Whiskey

by purgatorgy



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games), joel miller - Fandom
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Ellie & Joel Bonding (The Last of Us), Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Good Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Gratuitous Smut, Mild Smut, Minor Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Sex, Shameless Smut, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Smut, Softie Joel (The Last of Us), Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:08:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29371314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purgatorgy/pseuds/purgatorgy
Summary: You start to take an interest in Joel Miller, slowly coming up with ways to get closer to him. Will he fall for your act, or will you face rejection?
Relationships: Dina/Ellie (The Last of Us), Ellie & Joel (The Last of Us), Joel & Tommy (The Last of Us), Joel (The Last of Us)/Original Female Character(s), Joel (The Last of Us)/Other(s), Joel (The Last of Us)/Reader, Joel/Tommy (The Last of Us), Maria/Tommy (The Last of Us)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 47





	Tennessee Whiskey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Adamastache](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adamastache/gifts).



> Okay so I was high writing half of this so if there are spelling errors, please ignore me LMAOOO, but I put a lot of effort into this story so I really hope you enjoy it!

Your thoughts were lost as you continued to ride on your horse, the sights around the woods were breathtaking seeing as how you hadn’t been out from behind the walls in months. That was partly why you had signed up to be trained on patrol duty, so you could do it more often. The inside of Jackson almost felt suffocating, the constant façade and interaction with people draining, so you felt as if you were rapidly curing your cabin fever the moment you stepped outside the walls. The sun streamed through the green, vine ridden trees instantly warming your face as you lifted your head up to the warm winter sun. The crunch of the leaves and snow beneath the group of horses following yours screamed nostalgic to you, and you instantly knew that you definitely had to go on patrol more often. 

The other reason is because as soon as you heard who was leading the group patrol training, you knew that you had to go. You practically teleported to the sign up table as excitement made your mind swim. The thought of being near Joel made you squirm from the notion. While Joel is someone you always had your eye on, you never made any attempt to interact with him. Partly because of how much younger you were compared to him, not sure on whether or not he was attracted to younger women. And of course you had men your age that tripped over themselves when they would see you, but something about Joel was different. You wanted someone who wasn't an amateur, someone who was older. This was the perfect opportunity to get Joel’s attention. 

Along with that, he was just so damn attractive. The few conversations that you shared with each other resulted with your heart pounding and your panties wet. His deep voice along with his thick country accent was enough to drive any woman up the wall. Just looking at him riding his horse today, the small splatter of freckles on the back of his neck lighting up from the sun, the dark flannel shirt hugging his shoulders in the most delicious way, giving a visible view of his strong muscles left you with your heart in your throat. Despite all of this you never had the courage to approach him though, since you hardly interacted with each other, only exchanging a few hello’s here and hello’s there. Instead you would watch him from afar, admiring him from a distance. The thing is, that you were becoming so restless and bored, and it had been SO long since you had been intimate with someone. You would constantly let your thoughts roam to Joel and how his experienced hands might feel running up and down your body. 

“Are you listening Y/n?” asked Lindsey, snapping you out of your thoughts as you quickly looked up at the woman before you, everyone's horses stopped except for yours. You quickly pulled the reins in order to get the horse under control, to which it quickly stopped. Lindsey was the one leading the patrol with Joel, not wanting to send one person out with a group of rookies. Your annoyance was hard to hide whenever you realized that she was coming along, not the biggest fan of her. Mostly because she constantly interacted and even flirted with Joel since they always got paired up together during their routes. You weren’t sure how Joel felt towards her, but that was enough for you to not like her. Thanks to her completely unnecessary comment, you could feel everyone’s gaze drift to you, including Joel’s deep brown eyes, making you instantly want to get sucked into the ground. 

"Um.. okay well, this is our first stop on this run. All we do is make sure that the perimeter is clear and then sign the book up top," Joel said loudly to the group of people before him, jumping down off of his horse, not missing a beat as his boots met the ground. Everyone around you climbed off of the steeds, but you had a particularly ridiculous idea to struggle getting down off of your horse in order to at least gain a bit of attention from Joel.

As you slipped down, being careful of not falling but to struggle non the less, you felt strong hands around your hips to help you down. So your plan had worked, your face warming as you looked back and saw that it was Joel helping you down. His rough hands felt sensational against your hips as he gently helped lower you to the ground in order to avoid falling. Little did he know that you grew up near a ranch, and you were practically elegant whenever you were typically riding a horse. 

“Whoa there cowgirl, don’t want to fall,” Joel said to you as you reached the ground, your face heating up at his words and nickname. You looked up at him, preparing to say something, but he turned away before you even had a chance to reply. You felt your face fall in disappointment at the lack of interaction as you trudged behind him, following the rest of the group into the watchtower, noting that Lindsey was staying behind to lookout and watch the horses. Good riddance.

After making sure that the building was empty, you all made your way upstairs to view the perimeter and verify that there were no infected near the Jackson walls. Joel motioned for everyone to follow him into a large room after he made sure that the perimeter was clear, gesturing to the small book sitting on a table in the middle of the room. You, along with everyone else in the room, watched as he grabbed the pen placed next to the book before turning back towards the group.

“So you’ll just come and write your names down and the date, pretty self explanatory but I’ll get you guys to come up here and sign so everyone will get a gist,” Joel said, his deep voice filling the room. He began to readily sign his name before he turned back and caught your eyes with his, holding the pen out to you. 

“What’s your name?” Joel asked as he waited for you to come up and sign, and you announced your name quickly as you made your way next to him. You reached out and grabbed the pen, intentionally making your fingertips run down his hand. A shiver ran through your body at the motion as you tried to play it off as if you unintentionally grabbed him, but you could see his hand stiffen at the gesture, showing that he caught on.

“Uh,” Joel started, clearing his throat awkwardly as he moved behind you, “You jus’ sign right here,” he said, running his thick fingers down the page to show you where exactly he meant. Your eyes followed his fingers as he tapped the page, and you quickly pushed your inappropriate thoughts out of your head as you nodded in response and signed below his name. You pulled back quickly, almost bumping into Joel, before giving the pen to the person behind you. 

You made your way to the back of the room as everyone else signed, waiting impatiently to leave as you fiddled with your gun holster. It was clear that patrols were typically walks in the park, and you only hoped to not grow bored too quickly of being outside the walls. You had pretty much done every other activity within Jackson and found yourself jumping around on what to do everyday. Your thoughts were interrupted as Joel spoke to the class, saying that you were all good to go. You sighed in content as you followed everyone out, making your way back to Lindsey and the horses.

“We’ll show you guys around a few more trails and then head back for the night. We have some open spots on the board in the café if you want to sign up for some patrol shifts this upcoming week,” Lindsey said as everyone started boarding their horses again, including you. You were graceful as you climbed up, forgetting your masquerade to seem like you struggled riding. You could feel eyes on you as you straightened your back up and you glanced up to see Joel watching you, his lips pursed at how easily you got up on your horse.

You quickly looked away as a chill ran down your spine from his observance, embarrassed that he noticed in the first place, but at least it showed that he paid attention to you somewhat. Trying to ignore your clear humiliation, you followed Lindsey’s ‘high-ya,’ your horse trailing closely behind you. You made sure to give all your attention to riding, not wanting to have your horse trip over a root, as you heard hoofs next to your steed. You glanced over to see Joel riding closely next to you, locking eyes as he glanced over at you.

“Doesn’t seem like you needed much help after all huh?” He remarked, your shock at his words apparent on your face. You really didn’t expect him to call you out for it, and you weren’t sure if he was joking or not until you noticed a small grin tugging the corners of his lips. Thankful that he wasn’t annoyed by your antics you watched as his horse sped up to reach the front of the group. You weren’t sure how to react to his actions, but you tried to take it as a good sign.

It didn’t take long for the large group to get back home, and whenever you returned to Jackson, your first action was to see what positions were open for patrolling. Being outside today felt incredible and you couldn’t wait to head out once again, plus you wouldn’t mind potentially hanging out around Joel more often. Your eyes almost bulged out of your head as you read who needed help on their patrol tomorrow and for a few days into the upcoming week, seeing that Joel’s scheduled partner couldn’t make it. It seemed almost too good to be true, how convenient that you were able to spend time with him this quickly. You quickly signed your name in every empty place, wanting to lock in your position to spend a few hours alone with Joel. 

-

“Looks like it’s just me an’ you today,” Joel greeted as you strolled up behind him, your thick boots crunching on the snow beneath your feet. He was brushing out his horse as he waited for you, gently rubbing the grey spotted creature's face while he ran a brush through its hair. You found yourself smiling at the scene in front of you, not really pegging Joel as the animal loving type.

“Guess it is,” you replied with a smile, your breath visible from the cold air, making your way to the nearby stalls to pull out your assigned horse, the tall animal greeting you with a loud neigh. Joel wrapped up his interaction with his horse and began to harness the saddle on its back. You followed his actions, carefully tightening the clips around the large animal. As soon as you finished you climbed up on it, noting that Joel was watching you.

“Sure you don’t need any help?” Joel asked, smirking at you sitting above him as he leaned against his horse.

You decided to try to save yourself and create up a story to explain to him, “Look, I can explain that.” The embarrassment of being teased by him made you falter, but it also made a heat run through your body at the idea of being taunted by the older man. You could see that he took a liking to you, and you knew that the satisfaction of getting on Joel’s good side would go straight to your head.

He snickered at your response as he jumped aboard his horse, mumbling a ‘yeah, I’m sure you can,” before sending you a sly wink, walking toward the large gate opening. You opened your mouth to reply, your red face burning at his stupid smirk, but decided against it as you followed behind him, the cold chilly air already sharp against your face. Luckily you decided to wear your hair down today, your thick, long curls keeping your neck and ears from becoming too cold. We’ll act like you had it down for that reason and not to look good in front of Joel.

“You dropping by the bar this weekend? They got that music festival going on,” you heard, and you turned your head to the voice, seeing Joel’s younger brother, Tommy, waiting to let you both out from the walls.

You heard Joel sigh as he patted for the horse to stop at the gate, turning towards Tommy and telling him that he guessed he didn’t have much of a choice. Tommy laughed at his words, teasing him by saying that Joel didn’t have anything else better to do on a Saturday night, to which Joel scoffed and grumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

“I haven’t seen you on patrol before, you must be new,” Tommy said, smiling up at you with an infectious grin. You could see the similarities between the two of them, but you could tell how much more inviting Tommy seemed to be. You smiled back at him, introducing yourself as he strolled over to open the gate for you and Joel.

“I’m Tommy, it’s nice to meet ya. Gotta say, I’m sorry you’re stuck with my older brother here,” he said, nodding at Joel, “He doesn’t provide much entertainment, I hate to say. You might fall asleep from boredom before you even hit the checkpoint.”

Laughing loudly at his words you assured him that you would be fine since you sat through one of his lessons and didn’t pass out, earning you a loud chuckle at your words. Out of the corner of your eye you could see Joel rolling his eyes at the conversation, a smile ghosting over his lips. You could tell that they both were close, and it was refreshing to see a more intimate side of Joel. 

“I like this one big brother, she doesn’t seem like she’ll put up like your bullshit unlike most of us,” Tommy teased to Joel as he fully opened the gate, watching as your horses walked their way outside. Joel didn’t reply to his comment, only shaking his head with a grin on his face. You could feel your heart racing at the conversation, glad that you could put a smile on their faces. Tommy said his farewells before shutting the gates behind you, reminding Joel one last time to come to the bar. Maybe you would have to attend too. At least you knew where to find him if you needed him

The patrol went better than you anticipated, you both shared casual conversation as you went to clear out the area of any infected, the time flying by pretty quickly. To your surprise, you didn’t really feel awkward being around Joel, instead the conversation flowed easily. You both discussed how long you had been in Jackson, what you were before the apocalypse, how young you were when you lost both of your parents. Joel even brought up his ‘adopted’ daughter Ellie, grinning as he talked about her girlfriend Dina.

It wasn’t long before you wrapped up the day and were about to head back home. You felt a bit disappointed that your time with Joel was up, and not having anything planned for the rest of the week really. 

You had a great idea as you thought about the event going on at the bar the upcoming weekend.

-

The music playing from the bar washed over you as you gained the courage to step into the large warm room, the tables pushed back to the wall in order to create a makeshift dance floor. The string lights hanging from the ceiling lit up the room as you walked towards the bar, gazing around the room to see who all was there currently, which was pretty much every damn person in town. You were familiar with faces, not names, due to the fact that you didn’t really interact with many people while living within Jackson. The only person you really connected with was Jesse, being stuck on café duty together, but never really spoke to many other people. It was partly because you were a loner, not very outspoken and comfortable with being alone. Maybe that’s why you had such an attraction to Joel, him being similar to you within that aspect. You both didn’t require much attention, and you liked that about him.

You pushed through the large crowd of people dancing on the dance floor, loud music shaking the wooden floor beneath your feet as you finally reached the bar, climbing atop the bar stool. The chatter next to you was comforting as you gestured to the bartender to pass you a shot of whatever was available, you were never picky drinking regardless. It didn’t take long for a small shot glass of what looked to be vodka to be shot your way, chugging it back instantly, knowing that you were going to need more of it to get through the night. Going out and interacting with people really wasn’t your thing, but your temptation to see Joel got the better of you. You were practically obsessed. 

You called for the bartender to refill your shot before turning back and continued to look around, a large grin on your face as you saw Tommy and Maria, the leader of Jackson, dancing together on the dance floor. They really were meant for each other, they both seemed as if they balanced both of their contrasting personalities out. The times that you had been around Maria, she always seemed a bit uptight, so you loved the fact that someone as goofy as Tommy was able to make her happy. Moving your gaze, you returned to your scan around the room before your eyes landed on a table towards the back of the room, the man of the night sitting quietly alone, a beer in his hand as he watched everyone dancing, a lazy look on his face.

You felt your heart in your throat at the sight of him, and thanked god that the bartender returned with your refilled shot before Joel noticed you looking at him. Grabbing the shot, you downed it quickly once again, and motioned for the bartender to hit it one more time before he had the chance to walk away. At this point he looked a bit irritated, but he refilled it nonetheless, sliding it across the wooden bar to you. Before you had the chance to chug your third shot back, you heard movement next to you, catching your attention. You glanced over to the sound and almost dropped your drink at the sight.

“You know, I don’t think they have an endless tap back there,” Joel joked as he climbed into the bar stool adjacent to you, taking a swig from his beer as he leaned against the bar, smirking at you. That smile did things to you, your head spinning (you weren’t sure if it was Joel or the alcohol at this point,) as you grinned back at him before throwing the last shot back.

“I don’t usually come to these things, I need to be able to keep up somehow,” you replied, shrugging as you wiped at your mouth and leaned back against the bar like Joel, matching his movements as you watched him with your eyes.

He nodded as he glanced down at your lips before taking another lazy swig of his beer, the swish of the alcohol against the glass satisfying to hear. 

“I was going to say that I ain’t never seen you here before. You would think that you just got here in Jackson with how you’ve just now been showin’ up to shit,” Joel teased, nudging you with his elbow. You rolled your eyes and laughed at his statement, telling him how you just weren’t much of a people person, to which Joel muttered his agreement.

“Yeah, if I could hide in my house like you do I would but Tommy always drags me out to these things,” he replied while shaking his head. You thought it was cute, how much Tommy cared about Joel. 

“Ellie here?” you asked him, turning back to scan the room and see if she had made it, but Joel let you know that she was off somewhere with Dina because she thought she was too good to be here like everyone else tonight. It sounded like he was jealous that Ellie had been able to wriggle her way out of the situation in the first place. During your conversation you recognized the sound of Fleetwood Macs' Dream playing in the bar, grinning at Joel as you told him how much you loved this song while drumming the wood beneath your arms with your fingers. 

"You know Mac?" He asked, a questionable yet pleasantly surprised expression on his face as he smiled softly at you, his dark eyes scanning your face.

"I may be younger than you old man, but I do have taste you know," you replied to him, drawing a low chuckle from his throat. You could get used to this charming interaction with Joel, his presence pacifying.

“Wanna come sit with me? The bar looks lonely, plus you shouldn’t have access to that many shots at one time,” gesturing to the empty glass next to your hands. You couldn’t help the excitement that you felt at his words, your heart pounding in your chest as you nodded back at him, accepting his offer. He smiled at you before pulling back from the bar and jumping off the stool, letting you follow his path toward his table, 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton starting to play over the radio. As you made it to the table, you noticed that there were already three chairs there with a few empty beer bottles resting on the table. Looking over at Joel, you saw him tuck his bottle under his arm before grabbing a chair for you, placing it next to yours.

“There you go,” he emphasized, patting the empty chair with his large palm before sitting down on his own. What a gentleman. You mimicked his actions, sitting next to him as you awkwardly fiddled with your hands, wishing you had a little bit more alcohol in your system to give you the courage to hold a conversation with him. Almost as if by command, your wish was answered by Tommy and Maria coming up behind you, beers in Tommy’s hands.

“Well look who it is!” Tommy exclaimed at your presence as he placed the beers on the table, Maria following closely behind you. She shot you a smile before sitting in the chair next to you, grabbing one of the beers in front of you and cracking it open.

“You guys looked great out there,” you replied to Tommy, motioning towards the dancefloor. Maria and Tommy both chuckled at your words, pleasantly surprised at the compliment.

“So what brought you out today?” Maria asked, her eyes moving from you to Joel, as if she was piecing something together. You cleared your throat quickly before making up some bogus excuse of being tired of reading at home alone every night, which caused a smile to grow on her lips.

The night consisted of small chatter from your table and people watching, eyeing the crowd dancing as you drank a beer that Tommy offered you shortly after joining you and Joel at the table. It had been quite a while since you had interacted with a group of people in such a positive manner, and you were surprised by how much fun you were having, the time passing by like seconds. The alcohol definitely loosened you up, and you could feel yourself being a bit more confident and louder than you typically were. Despite all of that, you couldn’t take your mind off of the close proximity of you and Joel, your legs lightly brushing against each other occasionally, the warmth causing chills to run through your body. 

Tennessee Whiskey started to play, causing the bar to whistle in excitement at the song selection, and you shut your eyes and giggled at the song. You were never the type to listen to country music, but ever since you were a kid this song had made you feel a sense of nostalgia for memories that you didn’t even have. There was just something about it. 

“You should go out there and dance! You’ve been here all night and haven’t even got up and out of your chair. If it wasn’t for all that hair, I would think you were Joel,” Tommy joked, and Joel rolled his eyes in response to his words before taking another sip from his beer.

“I would if I had someone to dance with,” you replied, sighing, the alcohol making your head giddy as you looked over at the string lights strung across the bars ceiling.

“Like you couldn’t go out there and find someone to dance with, a pretty young thing like you,” Maria proclaimed, shaking her head at your words. You felt the blood rush to your face as you smiled shyly at her statement, but you knew that there was only one particular person that you wanted to dance with.

“Come on Joel, make the little ladies' dream come true,” Tommy said, kicking him from under the table, the thumb audible to you and Maria. Your head lifted instantly at Tommy’s words, your heart pounding as Joel looked over at you, his gaze making a chill run through your spine.

“No guys, seriously, it’s fine,” you began, but you were interrupted by the sound of Joel’s chair sliding back against the floor as he stood next to you, placing his beer on the table with a clink before nodding his head towards the dance floor. You felt like you were dreaming, practically about to pinch yourself as he silently waited for you to join him. Turning and putting your beer on the table next to his, your legs felt like lead as you made your way out of the chair as you followed Joel to the floor, hearing Maria mumble ‘who would've thought.’

As you walked to your destination, you could feel your legs freeze up from either intoxication or nervousness, and stumbled, almost falling on your face. To your relief and dismay, Joel was quick to grab your hips and prevent you from falling. The feeling of his grasp on your hips made electricity rush through your body, his strong hands practically flexing around your waist. You chuckled from embarrassment at almost tripping into the floor, and listened to Joel telling you to ‘slow down cowgirl’ before pulling his hands away from your hips and continued to lead you to an empty spot to dance. The dance floor was packed but you quickly inserted yourselves, careful of not bumping into anyone along the way. 

Joel turned towards you as the song started to pick up, and reached out to place his large hands on your hips tenderly, swaying softly to the country song playing. You looked up at him as you hesitantly placed your arms on top of his broad shoulders, his flannel warm under your fingers. You felt the muscles underneath his shirt as you tightened your hold on him, his body warming yours.

“Is this okay?” Joel asked, looking down at you, the bright lights hanging from the ceiling reflecting off of his dark face. He looked really good tonight, and you had to stop yourself from reaching up and running your hand through his lengthy hair. You nodded in response as you leaned into him, letting him wrap his hands around your hips as you both swayed along to the song. While the intimacy of the interaction was enough to make your legs shake, it wasn’t enough to solidify the idea of any type of relationship forming between the two of you.

‘You’re as sweet as strawberry wine..” 

You heard Joel humming along with the slow pace of the song, his voice low and gravelly as the sound of it made you melt like butter. It was no secret that Joel was a singer and played guitar, people were always hunting him down to borrow him instruments for god knows what, but being able to hear him sing directly was something else. 

“It’s been awhile since I’ve done somethin’ like this,'' Joel mumbled softly from above you, causing you to hum in agreement as you continued to sway with him, his strong, warm grasp overwhelming in the most intoxicating way. The smell of Joel, which smelt like freshly carved wood and something that was just uniquely Joel filled your nose as you moved back and forth. You both stayed like that for the entirety of the song, basking in the comfort of each other's arms.

As quickly as the song started, it ended, and you almost wanted to scream as Joel pulled from you, letting your body go before leading you back to the table, his palm on the small of your back as he led you through the crowded bar.

Tommy and Maria were still joined at the hip, waiting for you both to return, most likely watching the entire interaction from their seats. No, without a doubt they were, because they both had the same exact sly smile on their faces as you stood at the table, Joel moving up to you from behind.

“Just wait until Ellie hears about her old man finally getting a dance,” Tommy exclaimed, drawing a low chuckle from Joel as he moved next to you, leaning his arms against the table. His words made you anxious, worried about what Ellie might think about the two of you. You hadn’t interacted with her, you didn’t think you had ever really even seen her around. 

While you were having one of the best nights you had had in awhile, you could feel the alcohol really setting in, and you knew it was about time to call it a night. You interrupted their conversation, telling them that you were about to head home.

“Already?” Maria asked, like you guys hadn’t already been there for a few hours together.

“Yeah, I think I’ve had enough socialization for the next few months. I’ll see you when I come out of hibernation,” you teased, drawing a loud array of laughs from the table. You were really proud with how much Tommy and Maria liked you, their approval refreshing. You quickly said your goodbyes to everyone before turning to Joel and shooting him a grin before walking out of the hot bar. The winter air on your face practically stung as you stepped outside, the snow falling gently down from the sky. You sighed as you looked up at the snow, wondering how much longer the winter might last. 

“Let me walk you home,” said a husky voice from behind you, the low drawl making you jump. You stopped in your tracks as you turned around and saw Joel shrugging on his jacket while he was jogging to catch up to you, his long legs making quick strides to reach your side. Not objecting at his offer, you could feel blood rushing to your face as Joel started to walk next to you, your heart pounding in your rib cage at the close proximity between the two of you. You looked over to see Joel’s fists balled up into his thick jacket, the snow falling from the dark night sky resting on his long, greying hair. He looked so attractive in the moonlight, his face soft and thoughtful as he walked next to you. 

The music from the bar faded more and more the closer you got to your house, the street lights lighting your way as your boots crunched on the thick snow beneath your feet. Joel let you walk in a comfortable silence, not starting a conversation, which you found very endearing. It was nice to just relax in the presence of another person, not being forced to make awkward chat. Body shivering, you wrapped your arms around yourself as you finally made it to your porch, climbing up the steps, Joel following behind you. Pulling out your keys from your jacket pocket, you felt yourself fumbling with them due to the alcohol making your head fuzzy, dropping them out of your hand and onto the snowy porch below you. You sighed as you reached for them, but Joel beat you, crouching down to pick up the keys. 

As he stood up to unlock the door for you, you felt your head swimming from the alcohol and with how charming Joel was being. You truly didn’t anticipate for him to walk you home, but you appreciated it non the less. It was a bit embarrassing how you slipped out on the dance floor, but it wasn’t like you were wasted and couldn’t think for yourself. 

“There you go little lady,” Joel announced, moving back and handing you your keys, your hands gently brushing against each other as you took the set away from him. Unlike the first time you pulled this stunt with him, he didn’t stiffen under your touch. Instead he glanced down at your hands, raking his eyes back up to your face after you slipped your cold palms into your pockets, making your body squirm under his sight.

“You really didn’t have to walk me home Joel, I’m fine, really,” you said, peering up at him from behind your hair, a shy smile on your face as he shrugged and looked around nonchalantly. 

“It’s no problem,” he replied, grinning down at you before turning away, beginning to walk off of the porch.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow for patrol,” you said a bit loudly, not wanting him to leave quite yet but not sure on how else to get him to stay longer. He turned back towards you, nodding in your direction as his dark eyes rested on you again, confused but attentive as he waited to see if you had anything else to say. The previous memories of tonight’s events flooded your head, making you feel a bit desperate and hopeful. Thoughts raced through your head as you contemplated your next action, but with the buzz of alcohol in your system, you knew that you were going to make either the best decision of your life or your biggest mistake.

You quickly strided to where he was standing (trying to not overthink about what you were about to do) as he watched you with surprise on his face, but you didn’t give him a chance to question you because you quickly pressed your lips to his. The kiss was desperate, reckless, as you reached up and rested your hands on his cheeks, his snow ridden beard cold against your sweaty palms. You could feel Joel wavering into the kiss, kissing you back softly but not matching the same energy. He seemed uncertain, hesitating as he held your shoulders stiffly before pushing you away from his lips.

Pulling back from him, your lips burning from the warmth you shared with Joel, you hesitantly looked up at him, seeing a million questions cross his face. He reached up and awkwardly scratched his head before opening his mouth, prepared to speak, but you didn't even give him a chance because you instantly scrambled into your house, shutting the door quickly behind you. Not being able to bear rejection, instead you decided to ignore the situation entirely. You rested your head on the door, heart pounding, as you truly thought about what you just did, half hoping that you were dreaming. You didn’t know what was worse, kissing Joel or running away from him. 

Your actions solidified your fear of Joel not recuperating the feelings you had for him, not that you ever had any chance in hell regardless. Joel was someone who enjoyed his peace, and who were you to disturb it? ‘Fuck,’ you thought to yourself, the idea of having to be around Joel now after you made things extremely awkward made you cringe at the thought.

Footsteps were gentle outside on your porch as Joel walked away, not even attempting to knock and confront you. You felt your heart drop at the sound, but what the hell did you expect? The situation was already awkward thanks to you. 

Forcing yourself to finally move away from the door, you didn’t make it very far before falling face down onto the couch, burying your head under the pillows that lay there as you felt a tear slip down your cheek. You thought about everything until your mind became fuzzy and heavy, becoming more difficult to keep your thoughts in order. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep, the days tension knocking you out. 

-

Part of you wanted to go up to Tommy and Maria to let them know that you were under the weather and needed to stay home, but you knew you wouldn’t get away with it since they had both seen you in great health the previous night. You just couldn’t bring yourself to face Joel, especially alone, during the patrol today. Seeing as how you couldn’t come up with a good excuse not to show, and knowing that you couldn’t skip without facing consequences, you forced yourself to get dressed and make your way to the stables to get your horse ready.

You thought that you would make it early in order to avoid standing around awkwardly with Joel, but it wasn’t much of a surprise to see him already standing there, talking quietly to Tommy. You sighed softly, trying to gain the courage to face him, as you walked closer to the pair, finally catching their attention with the sound of your boots.

“Well there’s the party girl!” Tommy exclaimed, a huge grin on his face as he nudged Joel at your presence. Joel looked at you, a small grin on his face at Tommy’s words. You couldn't bring yourself to smile back, not to even look him in the eyes. 

“Hardly,” you scoffed quietly, your words a bit hoarse and blunt as you moved to grab your horse. Tommy's grin fell as he looked at you with concern, noticing how down you seemed. 

“You feelin’ alright?” he questioned, moving his head to get a clearer view of your face. You knew that your face wouldn't be a give away of your light night of crying, but your voice was a different story. Attempting to clear your throat, you grabbed the reins of your horse before turning back towards Tommy.

"Yeah, I just have a bit of a hangover," you replied, trying to reassure him and not draw any more attention from Joel. You could feel his dark eyes watching your interaction with Tommy, and it made you feel even more awkward. You couldn’t help but wonder what was running through his mind as he watched Tommy nod in response, a smile back on his lips as he helped saddle up your horse, reaching up and around the horse to tighten the saddle around the horse's waist. 

“Little lady can’t handle her liquor huh?”

While you usually enjoyed Tommy’s teasing, you were feeling extra irritable today, but you put on a smile and hummed in agreement as you finished preparing your horse, walking it over to where Joel stood.

He waited for you to greet him like you typically would, but instead you walked past him and made your way to the gate, ready to get today over with. 

-

The patrol was just as basic as ever, a go in and go out kind of deal. There wasn’t much action except for the one runner you fell upon, but you didn’t even give it a chance before shooting a bullet through its head. The rush that you felt whenever its body thumped to the ground was something that you hadn’t experienced in quite some time, and it made you thankful that you were outside of the walls, even if it was for a short period of time. Being inside for too long would make you rusty and soft, so having the opportunity to brush up on your skills was something that you could appreciate. 

Besides that, even though Joel was acting fine and normal, maybe just a teeny bit awkward, you didn’t even give him the time of day. If he tried to start a casual conversation, you would shoot him down by replying bluntly. It wasn’t as if you wanted to act shitty towards him, but rejection stung like a bitch. You could see his patience running thin as you kept being dry, and it escalated to the point where he felt like confronting you on the way back to Jackson.

“Look, we can talk about what happened last night. I feel like we should instead of actin’ like it didn’t even happen,” Joel said, glancing over to you, a serious yet concerned expression drawn across his face. The expression made you want to curl up into a ball at his worry, but also scream at him for being the one who caused your frustrations in the first place.

“No thanks,” you replied quickly and bluntly, continuing to ride your horse at a bit of a quicker pace, not wanting to acknowledge your fuck up. You kept your eyes down, not having the courage to meet his gaze. You heard a loud sigh from next to you, and you looked over to an exasperated Joel rolling his eyes at the situation.

“The thing is, is that I’m not particularly askin’ Y/n,” Joel started, pulling his reins in order to catch up to you, and you couldn’t help but snap your head towards Joel, and the outburst that came from your lips at the sight of his annoyance.

“Just fucking drop it already,” you growled back, malice dripping from your voice, before turning away and ignoring Joel for the rest of the ride. It wasn’t difficult to do, due to the fact that Joel’s face turned to stone at your words, clearly being over the conversation at hand. You knew that he was trying to be nice but what the hell were you supposed to say? You kissed him because you had a massive crush on him? Not over your dead body. 

The ride back was unbearable, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. You could tell how irritated Joel was with how he didn’t even greet the people on guard duty that let you both in through the gate, instead of he was swift at boarding up his horse. Maybe you were a bit too harsh, and you considered going to him and apologizing, but the moment you turned back to him, he was gone. 

-

You stood outside of Joel’s house awkwardly, hands in your pockets, as you tried to muster the strength to knock on the door. You knew that you had to apologize, the hurt of seeing Joel around Jackson but having him ignore your existence was becoming too hard to bear. It had been around three days since your last patrol and he did a great job at dodging you around town, you even dropped by the bar one night but he wasn’t there. You knew that you hadn’t known him long, but you really grew to enjoy your relationship with him. You didn’t want it to end, due to your own frustrations. If that meant not pursuing something with him, then so be it.

Before you could even gain the strength to knock, you heard loud footsteps bounding to the door, the door being thrown open as you were face to face with the one and only Ellie. She looked very surprised to see you but quickly showed her excitement, her face brightening and she grinned at you with a knowing smile. What she knew though, was something that you weren’t sure of.

“So you’re the one who’s been stealing my old man from me huh?” she questioned, your mouth dropping at her statement. Before you even had time to reply, she shouted ‘Joel, your girlfriends’ here!’ and trampled down the steps, meeting with a small group of people off towards the road. She must’ve heard about the dance at the bar, and you felt your embarrassment at being called his girlfriend. 

Footsteps moved towards the door as you glanced up and saw Joel standing before you, his face blank and unreadable as he looked down at you, leaning against the doorframe. Your heart caught in your throat at the sight of him, his large from towering over yours. His cheeks were instantly red from the cold outside, his breath fanning out in front of him.

“Yeah?” he asked bluntly, but you knew you deserved it. You guessed he was just showing you how it felt.

You tried to gain courage as you breathed loudly and uncomfortably, not really sure how to start your apology. He stood there with a patient expression as you shifted awkwardly, thinking about what to say. You practiced all night in your head but it was completely different with the man actually standing in front of you.

“I’m really sorry. It’s just that I’ve had such a silly crush on you for a while and I thought maybe you felt something back but obviously that’s not the case. It doesn’t excuse my actions, I don’t know why I was being so weird about everything. I just really like spending time with you and I don’t want to jeopardize that. If you don’t want to pursue anything, then that’s completely okay,” you said all in one breath, playing with your hands as you spoke.

You looked at Joel to gauge his reaction to your words, but he looked as serious as ever, completely unreadable. His eyebrows were drawn down, the blank expression still on his face.

“Who said that I didn’t want to pursue anything?” 

Yep, that’s it, you’re dreaming. There is no way in hell that those words actually came out of Joel’s mouth.

You stood there with your jaw practically on the floor as he sighed and moved a little bit closer to you, rubbing his beard as he continued to speak.

“You didn’t give me the chance to explain how I felt about everything. Plus you’re young, you know? I’m sure you have plenty of guys chasing after you already,” Joel mumbled gruffly, looking away nervously. It made your heart pound to see how nervous and apprehensive he was being towards you, as if he had a reason to be.

You almost laughed at his words, if only he knew how you were the only man you had your eyes on for such a long time. Sure, you might get hit on every now and then but they were nothing compared to him.

Instead of replying to him, you felt a wave of desperation wash over you as you rushed to where he was standing, kissing him quickly, his body almost toppling from the surprise of you practically jumping on him. His lips were cold against yours, parting as he kissed you deeper, pulling your body into his as he squeezed your hips. 

Joel pulled back from you, his eyes dark and raking over your body as he looked down at you, a look of surprise drawn washing over his face. His chest heaved slightly as he lifted his large palms and grabbed your face, his calloused hands rough as he pulled you into another kiss. This kiss was different, not quite so romantic but almost animalistic as he kissed you with skill, his lips evoking a small moan from your mouth. 

"You want to come inside?" He asked against your lips, sucking on your bottom lip gingerly, causing shock waves to instantly shoot your most sensitive spot. Did you even have to say yes? Was it not obvious how crazy you were for him? Regardless, you nodded rapidly, eager to see what might unfold within the next few minutes.

You trembled under the grip of his strong hands as he pulled back from you quickly and dragged you into the house, shutting the door behind him before turning back towards you.

He looked you up and down, his eyes lidded and ravenous as he saw how excited you already were for him. Joel looked insanely attractive standing in front of you, his firm chest moving up and down from his excitement, and the outline of his dick pressing against his jeans, begging to be released. 

"You sure you wanna do this? Because I'm not just going to have sex with you and that be it. I'm too old for that friends with benefits shit," Joel said, his eyebrows furrowed in seriousness. Instead of replying, you pulled him back into you, kissing his warm lips once again as he ran his hands down the small of your back and grabbed your ass with his palms. The feeling was overwhelming, your head spinning at the fact that this was actually happening. 

He surprisingly started to timidly run his tongue over your lips, and you were swift in letting him run his tongue along yours, the wet sound excluding from your mouths enough to make you squeeze your thighs together in frustration. Quickly pulling away from you, he guided you to the well used couch sitting in the middle of his living room, sitting down and then pulling you into his lap.

You could feel his length pressing against your leg as you squeezed your eyes shut at the feeling of it, the feeling unbearable, your frustration boiling up. Joel didn't give you a break though, because his palms instantly went to your hips and made you rock back and forth on his growing cock, kissing your neck sloppily as he groaned softly. The sound of his rough moans encouraged you to grind down on him even harder, dry humping his restrained dick as you both unraveled into each other.

Joel caught your face again as he used his other hand to keep moving your hips steadily, catching your lips into his once more. The kisses were long and drawn out but sensual enough to draw out a moan from your lips. 

"Take off your shirt cowgirl," Joel commanded, pulling back from you to watch, his dark eyes blown with lust. His lips were red from kissing you, and you almost couldn’t stop yourself from leaning into him once again. Instead you followed his orders, quickly pulling your shirt over your head, revealing your chest to the older man beneath you. It had been quite a while since you had been intimate with someone, so exposing yourself to someone new always made you feel a bit insecure.

“Jesus,” Joel said deeply, his eyes dragging down your chest at your breasts across from his face, instantly dissipating any fears you had of him not finding you attractive. He wasted no time in reaching behind your back, his rough palms undoing your bra strap and releasing your breasts to Joel. A guttural sound came from the back of his throat as he leaned forward, sucking and licking on your chest as you were forced to watch him from above.

It felt amazing to finally run your fingers through his long greying hair, gently yanking it as he continued to suck on your breasts, leaving small marks all over your chest.

You couldn’t take it anymore, the lack of physical touch for months was enough to make you beg for Joel to touch you, to which he replied with a chuckle.

“Such an impatient little girl huh?” he asked, but he didn’t wait in unbuttoning your pants, sliding his hand to play with your pussy. He started slow, playing with your clit gently, but as soon as he felt how wet you already were, he made quick work to slide his fingers into you. The stretch of his fingers made you shake as you threw your head back and mewed in pleasure, to which Joel shushed you gently. 

“Let’s start slow,” Joel muttered, his fingers still buried deep inside of you as he whispered into your ear, his thick fingers stretching and scissoring your tight pussy, curling in the best fucking way. You fell against his shoulder, resting your sweaty head in the crook of his neck as he kept stretching and teasing you, his two fingers filling you up perfectly.

He continued to thrust his middle finger and index finger inside of you as you spontaneously reached down and started to unbuckle his pants, a look of surprise at your actions clear on his face. He opened his mouth, ready to tell you that you really didn’t have to do that, but his words left him quickly as you wrapped your warm hand against his throbbing cock, the veins pulsing against your small palm. 

Watching him squeeze his eyes shut while lazily fingering you made a rush of juices squirt around his fingers, causing him to jerk his hips up into the grip of your hand. You were steady with the handjob you gave him, keeping up the same tempo of his fingers moving in and out of your wet hole. As much as you hated how close you were to unraveling from his fingers, you didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop, the feeling almost a crime with how good it felt.

“I won’t last much longer,” you groaned as you erratically jerked him off, not able to maintain the same tempo you had previously. You could feel the band in your chest about to snap, and it took everything in you to keep up with making Joel feel good.

“I wanna see you come all over my fingers,” Joel growled into your ear, and that’s all you needed to hear. Almost on command, you felt your orgasm hit you like a truck, bouncing your hips up and down on his fingers as you moaned loudly, his fingers relentlessly fucking you until your orgasm died out.

With your head still buried into his chest, you kept jerking at his thick cock, his dick twitching as you ran your head over the tip. He slipped his hand out of your pussy with a squelch sound, the erotic sound drawing a strangled sound from the back of Joel’s throat, as he held your hips tightly with one hand, sure to leave bruises, and pulled you in for a kiss with his other palm, his tongue instantly entering your mouth. You languidly played with his cock as you felt it finally twitch and reach its peak. You drew back from Joel quickly, eyes locked on his dick as he came all over your hand. Looking up at him, his eyes were pressed shut as his body shook with his climax, a low groan coming from his throat. 

You kept jerking him off until you saw that he was sensitive, letting his cock go. You waited for Joel to open his dark, heavy eyes as you locked your gaze into his before cleaning up all of his cum off of your hand, lapping it up like a dog as you didn’t break your sight from him. He looked breathless as you finished, a look of incredulity on his face as he breathlessly chuckled, pulling your naked body into his chest once more.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting that,” he mumbled as you sighed into Joel’s chest, your body resting limply on his warm chest as he ran his calloused hands up and down your back, the feeling causing you to sigh out in content. Your head spun with the thoughts of what-in-the-ever-living-fuck-just-happened, as you prepared yourself to possibly ask Joel what you two were at this point. Deciding to not ruin the moment, you just continued to lay on him as he lazily drew shapes into your back, sending chills throughout your body at the tender touch.

As if on cue, you heard a knock at the door, making you jump from surprise, causing Joel to groan softly beneath you at the sound of voices outside of the door. You looked down at his flushed face as he reached around you to grab your sweater and bra, beginning to help you put the bra back on.

“I hate to wrap this up so quick, but I forgot that Tommy and Maria invited themselves over for dinner tonight,” Joel grumbled, a look of annoyance on his face. You smiled down at the thought of being able to have a family dinner in a time like this, but you still felt disappointment by getting kicked out so suddenly. You quickly pulled your sweater over your head as you started moving off of him in order to zip up your pants, and so he would have a chance to stand up and answer the door.

You stood up behind him, planning to quickly greet Maria and Tommy before they pieced together why you were at Joel’s house so late in the first place. You couldn’t handle anymore embarrassment within Jackson. As Joel moved over to open the door, placing his hand on the knob before quickly turning to you with a look of disbelief on his face, causing you to glance at him in confusion.

“Where are you going?” he asked, seeing how you were about to leave as soon as he opened the door. 

“Um.. home?” you replied, not sure how it wasn’t obvious, still not understanding what the hell he was even talking about.

He scoffed as he looked at you, shaking his head in incredulity before replying.

“You’re really goin’ to run out before we even eat dinner?” 

Oh. 

Honestly, you didn’t really expect him to invite you in the first place, it wasn’t as if you were his girlfriend or something. What if Tommy and Maria started asking questions? What would you say, what would Joel say?

Pushing the thoughts out of your head, you saw his lips turn up into a smirk as you let him know that you weren’t going anywhere. 

He turned back to the door, opening it, revealing an impatient Tommy, Maria holding a large platter of food in her hands. Tommy opened his mouth, no doubt ready to chew Joel out for making him wait so long, but he shut his jaw quickly at the sight of you. Maria and Tommy both looked astonished at seeing you, a quiet silence falling over the couple as they took in the appearance of both you and Joel. While you were dressed, your hair was tousled and messy, Joel’s sticking up awkwardly. It didn’t take a genius to see what you had been up to.

“Y/n is goin’ to join us for dinner if that’s okay,'' Joel said softly, an awkwardness radiating off of him as he informed the guests of the dinner plan. You knew that Joel didn’t really date or hookup with anyone to your knowledge, so you couldn’t imagine the shock for Joel’s family. Maria and Tommy exchanged a quick look before nodding in agreement, stepping into the house as you and Joel moved to make room for them. 

“Let’s eat!”

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, I can def make it into a one shot series, just lmk. Also, this was heavily inspired by Guide Me by adamastache! Go check out their stories because they slap way too hard!! Thank you for writing such good stories!


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